The regime forces advance northwest of Khan Shaykhun and hundreds of meters separate them from Damascus – Aleppo International highway amid violent clashes

Violent clashes are taking place between the rebel and Islamic factions and the jihadi groups against the regime forces and militias loyal to them with Russian support, in the southern countryside of Idlib province, where the regime forces and the militiamen loyal to them were able to advance northwest of Khan Shaykhun city; through a new attack carried out from their positions in al-Faqir and Kafrdyoun on the western outskirts of Khan Shaykhun, and they were able to advance and become only 800 meter away from the international highway of Damascus – Aleppo, and now only a small hill separates the regime forces from monitoring the international highway, while regime’s warplanes and warplanes of the Russian “guarantor” are carrying out tens of airstrikes on the international highway from Khan Shaykhun side; in addition to intensive rocket shelling that targets the area.

And the Syrian Observatory documented the death of 14 fighters of the factions including 11 of the Jihadis, as a result of the continuous clashes in areas south of Idlib, in addition to 6 members of the regime forces during the same clashes.

And with the fall of more casualties, it rose to at least 3614, the number of people who were killed since the 30th of April 2019, the date of start of the most violent escalation in terms of aerial and ground bombardment, shelling, and targeting since Putin – Erdogan agreement, until the 19th of August 2019, and they are: 946 civilians including 237 children and 172 citizen women, and they are 199 including 41 children and 41 women, and 7 of the civil defense and 5 of the ambulance team were killed in Russian aerial bombardment on the countryside of Idlib and Hama, and 69 including 15 women and 10 children were killed in the fall of barrel bombs, and 492 including 140 children, 82 women, and 4 members of the rescue teams were killed in targeting by regime’s warplanes, also 107 people including 20 women and 20 children were killed in a ground shelling carried out by the regime forces, and 79 citizens including 26 children and 13 women were killed in shelling by the factions on al-Suqaylabiyah, Qamhana, Al-Rasif, Al-Aziziyah, Karnaz, Jurin, Al-Nairab Camp, neighborhoods in Aleppo city and its southern countryside, while at least 1434 fighters were killed in the Russian airstrikes and the regime’s aerial and ground shelling including 930 of the Jihadis, in addition to killing of 1234 members of the regime forces in targeting and shelling by jihadi groups and factions.

And during the period between the 15th of February 2019; the date of the meeting of “Rouhani – Erdogan – Putin” until the 19th  of August 2019, and Syrian Observatory documented the death of 4143 people in the Russian – Turkish truce areas, they are 1232 civilians including 319 children under the age of eighteen and 236 women over the age of eighteen, they were killed in the Russian aerial bombardment and the rocket shelling by the regime forces and the factions, and among the death toll of civilians there are 105 people including 31 children under the age of eighteen and 17 citizen women over the age of eighteen, they were killed in the fall of shells launched by the factions, and 1520 fighters were killed in different conditions within the demilitarized area since Putin – Erdogan agreement, including 975 fighters of the “Jihadis” and 1391 of the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them.

While the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented since the start of the Russian – Turkish truce the death of 4373 people in areas of Erdogan – Putin agreement, they are: 1315 civilians including 348 children and 250 women, were killed in shelling by the regime forces and the militiamen loyal to them, targeting, and bombardment by warplanes, and among them there are 106 people including 31 children and 16 women, were killed in the fall of shells launched by the factions, and 1587 fighters were killed in deferent circumstances within the demilitarized area since Putin – Erdogan agreement, including 1077 of the “Jihadi” fighters, and 1471 members of the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them.